Social, Behavioral, and Experimental Economics (SBEE)

Abstract:
In this talk, we present micro-randomized trials, an experimental design developed to support optimization of just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAIs). JITAIs are mHealth technologies that aim to deliver the right intervention components at the right times and locations to optimally support individuals’ health behaviors. Micro-randomized trials offer a way to answer open scientific questions that are important for the development of high-quality JITAIs. These include questions about the proximal or delayed marginal effects of intervention components within a JITAI, whether and how such causal effects vary over time, or how such effects are moderated by an individual's context or status. The talk introduces the concept of JITAIs and explains their importance for mHealth; describes the micro-randomized trial design and demonstrates its use through the example of a trial of HeartSteps, a walking intervention we are currently testing; and demonstrates analytical techniques for micro-randomized trial data and the kinds of results such analyses can produce.